Boston bombing suspects planned Times Square blasts, NYC mayor says

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Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev

NEW YORK (CNN) — The surviving suspect in the Boston bombings has told investigators that he and his brother planned to bomb Times Square, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday.

“Last night we were informed by the FBI that the surviving attacker revealed that New York City was next on their list of targets,” Bloomberg said.

The two came up with the plan spontaneously after the Boston bombing, as the talked in an SUV they hijacked, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev initially told investigators that he and his brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had talked about going to New York to “party.” But after further questioning he revealed that they planned to use their remaining explosives there, Kelly announced.

The plan “fell apart” when the SUV ran low on fuel in the Boston area and the Tsarnaevs ordered the driver to pull into a gas station, Kelly said. The driver escaped during the refueling, he said, and police subsequently caught up with the Tsarnaevs.

The brothers had five pipe bombs and a “pressure-cooker bomb” — the latter similar to the bombs used in the Boston blasts — with them in the SUV, Kelly said.

New York officials know that Dzhokhar was in New York late last year, likely in November, Kelly said.

There is no evidence that New York City is currently a target of a terror attack stemming from the Boston bombings, Kelly added.

Sources: No gun found in boat

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev apparently was unarmed when he was wounded in a barrage of gunfire that ended with his capture after a tense standoff, sources told CNN Thursday.

No firearm was found in the boat where he was hiding, in the yard of a home in the Boston suburb of Watertown, Massachusetts, said several sources familiar with the investigation, from different agencies.

Earlier, Tsarnaev and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had allegedly shot and killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus police officer sitting in a patrol car. Shortly afterward, the two engaged in a shootout with police. Tamerlan, 26, died after the shootout.

It’s unclear why Dzhokhar, 19, may have hidden without any weapons.

Authorities have previously said in a criminal complaint that there was a standoff involving gunfire before Dzhokhar’s capture.

Watertown Police Chief Edward Deveau told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Saturday that it was his understanding that the suspect fired from the boat.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev remains in fair condition at a Boston hospital, where he has communicated with authorities.